Reports: JPMorgan, Justice in $13B mortgages settlement

JP Morgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets, has reached a tentative $13 billion deal with the Justice Department in a settlement of a wide-range of issues related to the sale of bad mortgages, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The Journal quotes "a person familiar with the decision" as saying the settlement would cover outstanding investigations of the bank's residential mortgage-backed securities business. The report was first carried in a tweet by @WSJ.

Bloomberg.com carries a similar report, also quoting a person familiar with the settlement negotiations, and calls the deal a "tentative resolution of all civil mortgage-bond related matters.

Bloomberg notes, however, that the tentative pact does not include a release of potential criminal liability. The report quotes the unidentified source as saying the proposed accord will probably require the bank to cooperate in criminal investigations of individuals tied to wrongdoing associated with the bank's mortgage practices.

Bloomberg reports that the deal wold include a tentative $4 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency over the bank's sale of mortgage-backed securities.

On Friday, The Journal had reported that the bank had reached such a settlement with the FHFA over claims that it sold bad mortgages to government agencies ahead of the financial crisis.

The agency has accused JPMorgan Chase of misleading Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about the quality of the mortgages it sold during the housing boom of the late-2000s.